Steve Mason makes 23 saves, Flyers shut out Penguins

PHILADELPHIA -- Dale Weise said he's been waiting a long time for a game like he had for the Philadelphia Flyers in their 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.
Weise had a goal and an assist in his first game after being a healthy scratch in six straight and for 13 of the previous 22. The goal ended a 33-game drought dating to Nov. 23.
"I've been waiting a long time to get a bounce like that," Weise said. "They don't come much easier. Hits the goalie, then the post, I don't even see it coming, off my tape and in. That one feels real good. Been a frustrating year for me so that feels good."

WATCH: All Penguins vs. Flyers highlights
Steve Mason made 23 saves for his third shutout this season, Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist, and Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia (32-29-8), which ended a three-game losing streak (0-3-0).
The Flyers are five points behind the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning in the race for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining.
"Anything's possible," Simmonds said. "It's not over until it's over. We got full faith in here."
Weise kept his faith despite sitting out long stretches this season. He had an NHL career-high 14 goals with the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks last season but has three in 51 games this season.
"I'm a pretty positive guy, really enjoy what I do," he said. "I'm extremely blessed to be a hockey player for a living. Come to the rink every day and I'm happy."

Weise deflected Brayden Schenn's shot off Penguins goalie Matt Murray to Couturier, who scored at 1:00 of the second period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. It was Weise's first point in 12 games.
Weise was at the right post when Schenn's shot bounced off two Penguins and then went in off his stick to make it 4-0 with 48 seconds left.
"For him to come in after a long layoff and be a key contributor is huge," Mason said. "You play like that you'll be staying in the lineup."
Murray made 24 saves for Pittsburgh (43-17-9), which had its four-game road point streak (3-0-1) and six-game point streak ended (5-0-1).
The Penguins are two points behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division and one point ahead of the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
Simmonds made it 2-0 at 6:20 of the second when he scored the 200th goal of his NHL career on the power play.
Giroux gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead at 15:44 of the third.

Because of the winter storm that affected the Northeast on Tuesday, the Penguins didn't arrive in Philadelphia until 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. They also played the third period without defenseman Ron Hainsey because of an undisclosed injury. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said he expected to have an update on Hainsey on Thursday.
"I think we just didn't execute well and our power play wasn't sharp," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "All the way through, we didn't execute as we would like. Even with that, I thought we still had chances to get ourselves back in the game."

Goal of the game

Simmonds scored on the rebound of Shayne Gostisbehere's shot from the right faceoff circle for his 15th power-play goal of the season, tied with Schenn for the NHL lead.

Save of the game

Penguins center Nick Bonino sent a pass across to Oskar Sundqvist on a shorthanded rush, but Mason snapped his pads together to make the save at 10:03 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Schenn had an open net from the right post, but Murray dove across to get his left pad on the shot with 27.1 seconds remaining in the first period.

Unsung performance of the game

Late in his first shift of the second period, Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald forced a turnover at center ice and then got the puck deep into the corner on the play that led to Couturier's goal.

They said it

"Everybody's tired at this point of the season, and obviously it's been a long trip for the guys, but I think that in games like this, when we don't have our best jump, we need to find a way to play a more simpler game and settle for spending time in their end and keeping it tight and give ourselves a chance to win at the end. I thought we opened things up and gave them a lot of extra opportunities that we didn't need to, and the game ends up getting out of our control." -- Penguins center Matt Cullen on playing the final of a five-game road trip after arriving in Philadelphia at 10:15 a.m.
"We're fighting for our lives. Every single game matters. For us to get that win … thought we played well. Have to continue it into tomorrow night vs. New Jersey." -- Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds

Need to know

Giroux has five points (two goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak, his longest since he had at least a point in 10 straight between Oct. 15 and Nov. 2.

What's next

Penguins: Host the New Jersey Devils on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, ROOT, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, MSG+, CSN-PH, NHL.TV)